Serb ultranationalists gather for jailed leader

Sunday, February 24, 2013

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — About 2,000 ultranationalists have gathered to mark the 10th anniversary since their leader surrendered to a U.N. war crimes tribunal to face charges of using hate-laced speeches to incite Serb atrocities in the Balkan wars of the early 1990s.

Supporters of Vojislav Seselj’s extremist Serbian Radical Party on Sunday demanded that the tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands, release Seselj from custody after failing to hand down a verdict since 2003. Party official Nemanja Sarovic says Seselj “has been denied basic human rights.”

Seselj’s trial has been frequently held up, while he has been accused of contempt and witness intimidation. Prosecutors have asked for a 28-year sentence, but judges still have not delivered a verdict.

Seselj’s supporters and their paramilitary troops were notorious during the wars in Croatia and Bosnia.